


UnderMyst

by MercuryHomophony



Category: Myst Series, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Choose Your Own Adventure, Crossover, Tags May Change, Undertale characters in Myst setting, undermyst, undermyst au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 01:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5950402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryHomophony/pseuds/MercuryHomophony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a mountain. Then there was a book. Then, there was an island.<br/>On the island was a library, and in it, there was a Blue book, with a blue skeleton, and a Red book, with a red skeleton. Both are telling you to find pages. Neither may be trustworthy.<br/>But you didn't have any plans for your life, anyways. You may as well unravel this... Mystery</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - From Mt. Ebott

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU that glitchedwitch, kamil-a and I started talking about today and I am LOVING IT. It will be choose your own adventure style - after each chapter, I’ll post a choice at the end (here and on Ao3) and the one that gets the most votes will be what happens next chapter.
> 
> There won’t be too many spoilers for Myst, but if you haven’t played it, PLEASE do. Likewise, there won’t be tooooo many spoilers for Undertale, but Please play it if you haven’t! They’re both good games!
> 
> (also check out glitchedwitch.tumblr.com and kamil-a.tumblr.com if you like either of these fandoms, which I assume you do, because you're here!)
> 
> So, without further ado…

People didn’t come back from the mountain.  
  
At least, that’s what the town told tourists. It wasn’t a lie, per say, but it wasn’t the complete truth. People came back from Mt. Ebott. They came back disappointed, or injured, lured by false claims of adventures that ended in unstable rock faces, and impossible geographical oddities.  
  
Once upon a time, it had been a source of tourism. But as the years went by, the town grew prosperous and the mountain grew dangerous, and there was no reason for it anymore. The people closest to the mountain didn’t need to rely on the strange formation to fund their town. So now, people didn’t come back from the mountain, because no one went.  
  
Which meant, no one would go looking for you. And that was exactly what you wanted.

* * *

Getting up the mountain, surprisingly enough, is the easy part.  
  
The hard part is, figuring out exactly what to do with yourself when you get there.  
  
After some hesitation, you decide to explore. Even if Mt. Ebott wasn’t the extreme tourist draw the people in town had hoped it would be, it still had to be more interesting than the streets, right?  
  
Strange things happened on Mt. Ebott. There was a myth that, a long time ago, strange creatures lived all around it. They varied in size and shape, and they carried books that gave them magical powers. The myth continued, that the people living nearby banded together, and drove them into the heart of the mountain itself, where they could hurt no one.  
  
It was a child’s myth, though. You’re too old to believe it. So when you find yourself at the mouth of a shallow cave, looking in at a stone pedestal that just barely sits in the shadows, you tell yourself it’s not scary.  
  
People come back from Mt. Ebott, right? So, there can’t actually be anything here.  
  
You approach the pedestal slowly, taking in the other characteristics of the cave. There’s not much to speak about - it’s simply a shallow hole in the rock, a gentle curve inward with a mostly flat floor.  
  
The only thing out of place is the stand, and the book that sits closed atop it.  
It’s taller than you, and you have to stand on tiptoe to see it, but you don’t touch it. Not yet. The book itself is unharmed, despite being left open to the elements.  
  
…does that mean someone has been here recently?  
  
A moment of panic strikes you, because if someone has been here recently, it stands to reason that they’ll be back sooner rather than later, and you haven’t exactly done anything to cover your tracks. You don’t want to be found.  
  
You’re still standing on your tiptoes when the panic hits, and as you pull away, your hand hits the book, knocking it to the ground with a sound that is _deafening_ after so much stillness in the forests. You wince, hands half covering your ears, before opening one eye nervously.  
  
The book sits open on the ground. It’s flipped open almost to the middle, and on the page is a single image.  
  
_…no…_  
  
It’s not an image. You look more closely, scooting over and plopping yourself down next to the book, peering down at it.  
  
The picture is _moving_ , in a way pictures in books ought not to move.  
  
The myth of Mt. Ebott echos in your mind again. Without thinking, you lift a hand to trace the image. Your fingers touch the page.  
  
There is the sensation of falling, and a strange sound echoes in your ears. You close your eyes.  
  
And when you open them again, you are not where you were.

_perhaps, the end has not yet been written…_


	2. The Island of Ebott

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You awake in a strange place. Unsure of how you got here, you do a little exploring, and try to figure out how to proceed...

…  
__  
plip… plip… plip…  
  
The first thing that you register is the sound of dripping water. The second is something soft and scented underneath you. It’s strange - you know you were falling, but you don’t feel like you _landed_ on what’s beneath you, just sort of… appeared.  
  
You open your eyes, and distant stalactites greet your vision.  
  
Oh. Maybe you _did_ fall?  
  
You sit up, and look around. For an abandoned cave, this place is… pretty well lit, honestly. You’re sitting on a bed of flowers, golden and almost glowing compared to the rest of your scenery. There’s water to your right - a cavern pool, and sunken within it, a ship.  
  
Or… is it a statue of a dog? You squint at it. It’s hard to tell.  
  
To your left, there’s what looks like a metal wall. Behind you is rock, and before you is a path, leading up and around a curve of wall…  
  
It’s different.  
  
It’s _new_.  
  
You look up again, squinting at the cavern ceiling. The stalactites disappear into a cloudy purple haze towards the roof of the cave, but you think you can see light.  
  
You come to your conclusion. You must have fallen. And even if there are signs of life, anyone who lived down in such an obscure place had to be some kind of recluse. Not someone who would take you back to the village at the foot of the mountain.  
  
You stand up and brush yourself off, making sure nothing is broken in the process. You’re as fit as a fiddle, as cute as ever, and you head up the path, filled with the determination to explore!

—

It takes you less time than you would like to explore. Turns out, your new cavern home (and it likely will be your home - you couldn’t find any entrances or exits) is rather small. The good news is, it’s a lake, so you’ll never want for water. You remember hearing somewhere that mountain water is nearly always clean. That’s probably doubly true for an abandoned place like Mt. Ebott, where there’s no one around to pollute the place.  
  
The bad news is, there doesn’t seem to be any food.  
  
…or anywhere nice to sleep…  
  
…or bathrooms.  
  
But you’re getting ahead of yourself. You walk to the middle of your new little island, take a deep breath, and take inventory.

  
  
You’re standing by a fountain, a small, circular well of water, with a small replica of the sunken dog-ship you saw when you first arrived. It’s in the middle of a path that splits the island in two - all worn, reddish-purple stone. The island seems to have some sort of ambient light - you’re still not sure where the source is, but it’s bright enough that you can see nearly to the ends of the path from where you’re standing.  
  
Behind you is the biggest building, where you figure you’ll spend most of your time. It’s a library of some sort, though a cursory glance at the books told you that they weren’t well taken care of. The only exceptions seem to be a pair of books, one Red and one Blue, that sit on stands opposite one another, with a ripped page beside them. You left them alone earlier, eager to see more of the island.  
  
To the left of the library is a set of platforms, leading to what can only be described as an enormous drill. It doesn’t look functional - you’re not sure how you’d move it to actually _drill_ from where it is - but there’s a locked panel on the side that suggests there’s more to it than it seems. Attached to it are a series of pipes and wires, that line that half of the island, leading to a small hut with stairs descending into an eerie darkness.  
  
You avoided that building for now.  
  
Further down the path from the hut, there’s a small beach. The sand glitters black and purple. You figure it’s because it’s cave sand. There’s a small control panel there, right at the edge of the water, but after poking it a few times with no results, you got bored. Directly out from the shore, you could make out the shape of another building. There might be more behind it, but the light fades the further you try to look from the island. If you could find a way to cross, maybe that’s where you could find more answers?  
  
Going back up the path, across from the scary stairway-to-darkness hut, there’s a small cabin. The inside is mostly empty, except for a picture of a dog, a few scorched dog treats, and an empty bottle of ketchup.  
  
There’s also snow on the roof - you don’t know what to make of that. The rest of the cavern is quite temperate.  
  
Next to that is a forest of trees, including one enormous one that stretches up until you almost can’t see it. But past all that is the dock, and the bed of flowers where you woke up. The metal panel you saw before is actually a door - it slid open automatically when you approached it, though you didn’t go in at the time - you were too nervous it would shut behind you. One of the last two places on the island that you can reach are a large, partially submerged gear.  
  
It’s hot pink. You’re not sure what to make of that.  
  
Then, there’s the final building. It’s a small, round place with a conical roof that looks almost cute… until you open the door and see the strange, ominous chair inside.  
  
All in all, you’re not sure what to make of this new place. Sure, you haven’t searched it top to bottom yet, but… there’s not a lot of places you could go, from here. If there was someone else around, surely you would have run into them by now…?  
  
You came to Mt. Ebott to get away from people. But, you didn’t really want to be _alone_.  
  
You dip your hand in the water of the pool, thinking. The toy dog-boat rocks along the ripples you cause, its smiling face comforting, like you have a friend in it.  
  
You’re filled with DETERMINATION, and you stand up and brush yourself off.  
  
There’s got to be something on this island, and you’re going to find out exactly what.  
  
But… where do you start?

****__  
* The library may have some information…  
  
****_* That door by the dock… maybe there’s something you missed?_  
  
****_* The pair of books that were left out… they might be important…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'd really like this thing to be driven by YOU guys! So select the path you'd like to take... or suggest your own! I'll check back in a few days, see what has the most votes, and write it up. 
> 
> Thanks for reading~! :3


	3. The Purposeful Echoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three votes for the Door by the Docks win!

After thinking it over for a moment, you decide to start back where you began… kind of. There was that door by the dock, and though you’d poked your head into every building here, you hadn’t gotten up the courage to explore there at first. Now that you’ve been here a while, the sense of calm and serenity over the island has become more soothing and less unnerving. So, you decide it’s time to check it out now.

You make your way along the path, running past the library and the creepy chair room, and you’re heading back to the flower patch and door when a rustling catches your attention. You skid to a stop, looking around for the source of this new noise.

It takes you a moment to find it, and when you do you’re more than puzzled that you missed it before. There is a trail of sticky notes, attached to a string of yarn, tucked near a crevice in one of the rocks. You drop next to the end of the line, picking up the note at the end.

_“FORGET IT!”_

You blink. The handwriting is… weird. The message weirder. The blockiness makes you think of a kids’ scrawl, like your own, but the deliberate lines look more like something an adult would make…

You look at the next note.

**“didn’t you just say not to put it back in the linking book?”**

This handwriting is almost the opposite. The way it’s scribbled out shows a lack of care, but at the same time, it’s more consistent than the deliberate letters on the other note.

You move to the next one. And the next one. It takes you a moment to puzzle it over, when you realize that you’re reading from the wrong end of the conversation.

The end of the yarn disappears into what turns out to be a hidden panel in the rock, tightly wedged in the crack. You’re excited to discover what’s inside it… but unfortunately, no matter how you pry at it, it remains firmly stuck.

Grumpy, you turn to the notes you _do_ have, to see if they make any more sense in the correct order.

_“SANS! PLEASE PICK UP THIS PAGE!”_

**“ok.”**

_“DON’T PUT IT BACK DOWN! MOVE IT!”_

**“ok.”**

_“YOU MOVED IT TWO INCHES! MOVE IT TO THE BOOK!”_

**“ok.”**

_“AND DON’T BRING IT BACK!”_

**“ok.”**

_“IT’S STILL HERE!”_

**“didn’t you just say not to bring it back in the linking book?”**

_“FORGET IT!”_

Well. That… probably tells you what’s behind the panel, you guess. You don’t know why this person was so upset over a piece of paper, since it seems safe and sound where it is… but, it doesn’t hold your interest much longer.

You still have a door to investigate.

You move to continue along the path, but as you turn your back on the plethora of post-its, you hear another rustle behind you.

You freeze. You hadn’t been moving fast enough to rustle them that time, had you?

You slowly turn around again. The post-its are still sitting there, but… the final one has been flipped over. On the back is something that you realize you must have missed.

Feeling a little silly about getting worked up over a simple sound, you pick up the notes again, looking at this final piece.

“08”

You stare at the note. The 08 looks as if it has been painstakingly drawn with a shaky, unsure hand, and the ink almost looks… fresh. Not to mention, you’re pretty sure it hadn’t been on the note before.

…weird.

You put the note down at last, and turn away, but even as you head back to the flowerbed and the mysterious metal door, you can’t shake the odd feeling that final note gave you.

You do your best to ignore it, with moderate success, and try to focus on the door when you arrive. It slides open as you approach, as it did before, and you take a deep breath, steeling yourself, before striding forward with all the authority a kid can manage.

Predictably, the door slides shut behind you. You immediately whirl around, rushing towards it - and it slides open again.

Oh.

For a few minutes, you play with opening and closing the door by stepping up and back, enjoying the swooshing noise it makes. You pull yourself away before you get bored.

The hallway inside isn’t as dark as it looked from outside - now that the door is shut, you can see the pathway is lined with dimly glowing rocks on the floor.

Score one for your luminescent geology theory.

It’s not a terribly long hallway, either. In short order, you find a large, circular room, and as you descend a small set of stairs, the centerpiece catches your attention.

An enormous, faintly glowing flower.

You walk around, studying it curiously. It’s not the same kind as the ones in the patch you landed on - those were golden, while this one is a faded blue. Its head droops slightly, petals curling around the center, as though it were wilting. It’s rooted in a wide, shallow metal pot, and on the side facing the door is a button.

Well. That is as clear an invitation as you’ve ever seen. Of course you press it.

You jump a little when the flower’s glow suddenly intensifies, stem straightening slightly, and your jaw drops when it starts _talking_!

“Hello? U-um, hello?” it says in a hurried, squeaky voice. You stare in shock, before realizing you should probably answer it, but as the words are coming to your voice, the flower continues. “Well. T-this is a test, of the Echo Flower Recording system.”

Oh.

It’s a recording.

You shut your mouth, feeling a little sheepish.

“Now, uh, to turn it off, and uh… see if it works!” With that, the flower dims again, wilting back to its original position.

You press it a few more times, to see if the flower plays different messages. It doesn’t. You press it a few _more_ times, trying to see if you can record your own sounds. It quickly becomes apparent that, whatever this system is, you’re entirely on the playback end.

Bummer.

But, you can only listen to this message so many times before becoming bored. As you head back to the door, however, you notice a panel on the wall next to the entrance. It wasn’t visible coming in, and you spend a moment inspecting it. Another button prompts you to press it, and when you do the metal cover slides open, revealing a display with two digits and a series of buttons, likely to change what’s on the display. Right now, it says 00.

You change it to 01. Nothing happens, but you have a suspicion, and turn back to the “Echo Flower.” You press the button, half expecting the same “Hello, hello” as before… and are pleasantly surprised.

 **“hey. so, uh… why didn’t the skeleton ask someone out to prom?”** There’s a pause, and you wonder what kind of question is that? **“he didn’t have the _guts_.”**

Oh. My god.

The message goes on for a few minutes, shelling out joke after joke. There are a few knock-knocks (that the speaker answers himself), a number of puns, and whoever this guy is, he seems to be having a _blast_. You can’t help your groans, but by the end they’re mixed in with uncontrollable giggles. This guy really knows how to tell them, and you’re almost a little disappointed when it ends.

You rush over to the panel again, and switch it to 02, hopeful. The voice that comes on this time is _very_ different from the first two, simply for sheer _volume_.

 _“SANS!”_ You tilt your head at the accusatory tone in the voice. That was the name on the post-its, as well. And now that you think about it, that handwriting sure would match up well with that last voice. _“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE USING THE ECHO RECORDER FOR PUNS! I HAD TO LISTEN TO THAT WHOLE THING, TRYING TO FIND THAT MESSAGE FROM UNDYNE!”_

You bump it up to 03.

**“sorry, bro. i’ll cut back. wouldn’t want to ruin the pun… echo-nomy.”**

04 is just a wordless screech of frustration and resignation.

You giggle to yourself. These people seem… nice. Not like the people from your village at all. Between this and the notes, you-

Oh! You recall the 08 on the final note. You hadn’t seen anything else on the island that had codes like that - maybe that was a message to check this?

You key it in, and press the button, hoping for another message between the two voices.

Instead, the voice that comes on chills you to the bone.

 _“Yes, **W** ell…”_ It’s practically a whisper, hardly a voice, but every word comes through clear as day. _“There H **ave Be** en Some… Co **mplic** ations…”_ The voice sighs, and you realize you’re holding your own breath, too. _“My Re **sea** rch Had Be **en Pro** gressing Smo **oth** ly… Until **Recently** …” _Another pregnant pause looms in the room, but even when the voice is silent, you can still feel its presence. _“I… Su **spect O** ne Of My… so **ns, Is R** espo **nsi** ble… **Sans** , Most Likely… Though, I Ha **ve Lea** rned The H **ard** Way… Not To Un **deresti** mate **Papyrus** …” _There is a terrible barking sound that lasts for a good minute and you only realize at the end that it is a cough. _“If You A **re Hea** ring… This Mess **age, T** hen… Some **thing Ha** s Gone Wron **g. Either** With The Core… Or Perha **ps, With Me**.” _ The voice sighs once again, a dry rustling of air. _“I H **ave A Pie** ce… Of Advice. **Do Not Trust My Sons**. Papyrus, Sans… One Of Them Is Re **sponsible For** This. And I… W **ill F** igure Out… W **hich** One…”_ The voice grows fainter through the last sentence, and you have to strain to hear the last words, before the flower dims again.

…Well. That put a damper on your adventure. Looks like its more complicated than you thought.

* * *

 

You spend some time pressing more combinations into the machine, but past a certain point, the flower does nothing or repeats messages, and you don’t feel like spending the time to put in every single one of the 100 combinations. Not to mention, message 08 still has you a little shaken.

You step outside again, the door whooshing shut behind you. You look up, briefly wishing that you could see the sun overhead, needing some light after that dark room… but the only light comes from the ground around you.

 

So… now what?

 

_* Doing some reading might calm your nerves - Check out the Library Shelf?_

_* The pair of books that were left out_ _… they might be important…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to choose what you want to do next~! :3
> 
> EDIT 2.17 - We've got 5 votes to check out the Library Shelf! Expect the next chapter in twoish days :3


	4. The Bookshelf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> * Doing some reading might calm your nerves - Check out the Library Shelf?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five votes takes it - let's check out that shelf!

 

Your next decision is obvious. There’s something going on here, and you’ve got to figure out what it is. Truly, this is a mystery amongst mysteries, a spooky, under-mountain island, the voices and writings of people who are no where to be found… and, just what did Sans or Papyrus do? Who was the last person who’d spoken about them? And, for that matter, who was the first voice, who was testing it?

You have questions, questions that need answers, and you know the best place to get answers.

You march over to the library, and the sight of the bookshelf against the far wall, even ruined as it is, fills you with DETERMINATION. The sight of the sign above it, which reads “LIBRARBY,” fills you with confusion.

You start by looking at each book individually… but it quickly becomes clear that you’ll be here all day if you do that. Every book you pull down is the same - water has worn away the words from the pages, and the parchment is stiff and brittle with ill treatment. You click your tongue and shake your head sadly, putting them back where you found them. Your hand brushes over another spine… and this one feels different.

You pull it down, and take a good look at it. Unlike the others, it’s in fair condition - the cover is a little crusty, where it was pressed against the other books, but when you flip through the pages they make that wonderful “fwip” noise that any book lover is more than happy to hear.

Now that you know there _are_ some books in okay condition, you spend a few minutes looking for more. It quickly becomes clear which books are good and which aren’t, and when you’re done, you find yourself with five books.

For a place that seems so book focused, there’s not really a nice place to sit and read. You look around the room, but nowhere seems particularly comfortable. Arms wrapped around the stack of books, you stagger outside, and you manage to make it to the flower bed before you drop them. You don’t know why - maybe it’s because this is where you started - but you feel safer here in the flowers than anywhere else on the island. And more comfortable too, you decide as you settle back on the oddly springy flowers. You pick up the first book, and crack it open.

There’s… a bunch of colored squares?

You flip to the next page. Then the next. Then the next. And so on, faster and faster until you’ve flipped through the entire book. There’s no mistake, the whole book is filled with these grids of multicolored squares. There’s no explanation, just page numbers and… squares.

You slowly close the book and put it down. Hopefully, the next one will be more helpful.

This one… is pink. With a gear on it. You glance up, just able to see the landmark of the same qualities in the dim light of the island. Well, hopefully this will tell you a little more about that.

You open it up, and sigh. The first page is written in weird symbols, hands and faces and crosses. Mostly hands, though. This must have taken ages to write, you think to yourself, flipping through the first few pages. On the third page, fortunately, it switches to something legible. You reccognize the handwriting, and settle down to read.

 **“today, we finished work on the prototype. i think it would be an understatement to say that everyone is excited to see it work. if all goes well, then we’ll have some proper power again. it would be nice to finally shed some… light on the situation.”** You can’t know for sure, but you feel like there was a pun in there. **“of course, i’m sure there are some people who would find it shocking if it did work.”** Okay, now you’re sure there’s a pun in there somewhere. **“papyrus has really been bustin’ his tailbone over this, too. i think he’s hoping that if we get this running soon, everyone will be happier. well, if anyone could lift everyone’s spirits, it would be him. that, or a ghost in an elevator. with everything that’s going on, though, i haven’t had much time to work with the doctor. he kinda dropped this stuff on me’n’papyrus. i dunno what he’s working on these days, but it must be something big.”**

The next few pages are filled with loose sketches, detailing the parts and pieces of some enormous machine. And one crude doodle of a burger.

You move to the next book. This one has a familiar image in its design - a blue version of the echo flower sits at each corner, petals facing in to frame the edges of the book. You open it.

“HOI! I’m Tem!!.!”

You stare at the two-page sprawl of text and footprints, and slowly turn the page. Papyrus is writing again.

“WHAT A MESS! I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT WRITING IN THIS NEW JOURNAL, BUT ONE OF THE TEMS FOUND IT FIRST… BUT, EVEN THEN, ITS STILL A VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND, OF COURSE, SANS.

“DAD FINALLY LET US WRITE ANOTHER AGE, AND IT TURNED OUT SO WELL! MUCH BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS. I THINK HE WAS CONCERNED THAT WE’D HAVE ANOTHER… ER, ‘RADIO’ ISSUE, BUT ALL THE ELEVATORS HERE ARE MUSIC FREE AND THERE ISN’T A SINGLE WHOOPIE-CUSHION FOR MILES… SO LONG AS SANS DIDN’T BRING ANY WITH HIM.

“THERE IS ONE, SMALL, TEENY-TINY PROBLEM, THOUGH.

“WHEN WE GOT HERE, THE AGE WAS ALREADY INHABITED. RIGHT, I MENTIONED THEM EARLIER! THE TEMMIES, THEY CALL THEMSELVES. THEY’RE PRETTY CUTE, BUT DAD WAS VERY SPECIFIC - HE WANTED US TO WRITE AN UNINHABITED AGE, LIKE THE ~~SELI~~ ~~SLEN~~ SELENITIC AGE.” You can’t blame him for having trouble with that. You’re not sure quite how to pronounce that name, just looking at it. “APPARENTLY, WHEN WE WROTE THE AGE, WE ADDED A LITTLE TOO MUCH OF SOMETHING… DAD IS GOING OVER IT WITH SANS NOW, SO WE WON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN. AS FOR THE TEMMIES, THEY… CERTAINLY ACT LIKE SOMETHING MY BROTHER HAS WRITTEN. I WAS QUITE EXCITED WHEN WE FIRST MET THEM - THEY SEEMED EAGER TO TALK ABOUT THEIR CULTURE. BUT ALL THEY ACTUALLY _SAY_ IS “YUS, TEMM HAVE… _LOOOOOOONG_ HISTORY1!!” SANS SEEMED TO FIND IT PRETTY FUNNY, THOUGH, SO I GUESS THAT’S OKAY. WE ASKED THEM IF THEY WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE KINGDOM, BUT THEY SEEMED PRETTY SET IN STAYING IN THEIR VILLAGE… OR MAYBE, THEY JUST DIDN’T UNDERSTAND US? SIGH… WELL, EITHER WAY, THIS AGE ISN’T WHAT THE KINGDOM NEEDS. BUT WE’LL GET IT RIGHT NEXT TIME! AND MEANWHILE, THE TEMMIES HAVE SET UP SOME VERY HOSPITABLE ROOMS FOR SANS AND I TO STAY IN… THOUGH ALL HE SEEMS TO DO IS NAP IN HIS. COME ON, SANS! WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO!”

You can’t help but smile. Despite some of the wording, you can clearly see Papyrus’s childish enthusiasm through his writing… and not just in the fact that he only ever writes in all caps. And you have no idea what a Temmie is, but reading this… you kind of want to meet one.

Too bad you’re stuck on this island…

With that dark thought, you pick up the next book. This one has a plain, worn cover. It’s probably the oldest of the ones you’ve picked up. You open it.

**“holy shit.”**

You slam it shut again, heart beating wildly with the knowledge that you just _read a bad word-!_

And then you remember you’re alone on an island. No one is going to know, right?

You open it again.

**“holy shit. this age… oooooh man, i don’t think i could have done this any worse if i** **_tried_ ** **. or better. i guess it depends on your point of view. gaster seems to think it** **’s pretty awful. papyrus seemed to like it, until… pft, oh man, the looks on their faces. absolutely priceless. wish i’d had a camera. but i guess i’ll just have to immortalize the moment in my memories.**

**“oh. pap just came over and told me I’m supposed to be writing about the actual age. i figured he’d wanna write it, but he’s insisting i do it. oh well. so… this is the first age we’ve ever done. and it shows. the place is kinda all over the place. but i have to say that i don’t think we’ll ever be able to top it. the underground tunnels especially are a work** **_o_ ** **_’fart.”_ **

There are a couple of ink blots on the page, and then, in Papyrus’s bold font - “ANYONE WHO READS THIS, PLEASE IGNORE MY BROTHER’S AWFUL PUNS.”

The next page picks back up in Sans’ handwriting. **“okay, so - the age has all the things it’s supposed to have - the lava for the doctor’s work, the cooler spots for some of the furrier people, even the beginnings of a place we could hypothetically place a new castle. the bad thing is, it’s not particularly uh… neat. everything is just kinda all over the place. like, the lava pit is right next to a sheet of ice. the doctor’s still trying to figure that one out.**

**“So, yeah… looks like this one’s a no-go. gaster wants us to try again. hopefully the next one works out. its starting to feel really crowded.”**

There’s nothing left in this one, so you go ahead and pick up the final book, a neatly bound journal that smells faintly briny. Papyrus’s handwriting greets you when you open it.

“THIS ONE WAS ALMOST PERFECT! THERE WAS A LITTLE… MISCOMMUNICATION WITH THE PLACEMENT OF THE SHIP, BUT WITH THAT EXCEPTION, BONESHIP IS PERFECT! SANS AND I FINISHED WRITING THIS MORNING, AND DAD WAS EAGER TO SEE THE RESULTS… I THINK. SOMETIMES ITS HARD TO KNOW WHAT HE’S THINKING, HE DOESN’T REALLY CHANGE EXPRESSION. SANS IS THE SAME WAY, BUT EVEN HE CAN SHOW HOW HE’S FEELING WITH HIS EYES. B-BUT I’M SURE THAT DAD WAS EXCITED TO SEE BONESHIP. AND IT TURNED OUT SO WELL! THERE’S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ALL THE WATER MONSTERS, BOTH ABOVE LAND AND UNDER WATER, AND THE LIGHT FROM THE CEILING IS EVEN BRIGHTER THAN THE ~~SLEN~~ ~~SENEL~~ DANG IT, WHO NAMED THAT AGE ANYWAYS!

“WELL, MOVING ON - DAD IS STILL LOOKING AROUND. SANS IS SITTING… OH NO, HE’S NAPPING. SANS IS NAPPING ON A ROCK OVER THERE. I HOPE HE REMEMBERS WE TRIED TO WRITE TIDES IN. AFTER WE’VE FINISHED MAKING SURE ITS COMPLETELY SAFE, WE’LL BE MOVING PEOPLE IN! AND ONCE UNDYNE SEES THE AWESOME PLACE THAT WE’VE WRITTEN, MAYBE SHE’LL MAKE ME PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD? WHAT AM I SAYING? OF COURSE SHE WILL, SHE HAS TO AFTER SHE SEES THIS! NYEH HEH HEH!

“OH, SANS HAS FIGURED OUT THAT THERE’S A TIDE. I BETTER GO PULL HIM OUT BEFORE HE DRIFTS TOO FAR OFF.”

You chuckle a little, shutting the book, and then sigh. You were hoping you’d get more information about the place you were in, but all of these books have been about different places… and though you’re not sure what these “Ages” are, or why writing them seems to open up new places, but they must be important. Or, they were, to whoever used to live here.

Sans mentioned it being crowded, but you’re only left feeling lonesome.

 

**What do you do?**

_* Take a look at the paintings in the_ _“LIBRARBY”_

_* The Red and Blue books may have more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :3
> 
> Edit 4/12 the votes are in! Let's check out the Red and Blue books!


	5. The Red and Blue Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> * The Red and Blue books may have more.

Disappointed, you put the book back down again. As you do, the page next to the pedestal flutters off. Frowning, you go to pick it up, investigating it more closely. There’s nothing legible on it, and you shrug, reaching up to put it back. You miss, and it falls on the book, but close enough, right

As you turn, though, you hear a strange noise that sounds like a warping, static-y groan. The hair on the back of your neck prickles, and you turn back to the book.

The page is gone.

You frown, looking over the stand again, but the page is nowhere to be found. Curious, you open the book again.

A grinning skeletal face materializes in the static.

**“papyrus?** **is th....ou? Huh, I can................g on, you aren’t papyrus, who ar..........is connection is terrible… how’d you fix .................ng back a page? Maybe if you bring ba.......................le to actually see you, kid. Grab some more blue page.........ing them back, and we’ll se........e can do then.”**    

Slowly, it fades back to static once more. You stare at it wide eyed for a second, before closing it, then opening it again.

**“huh, again? look ki..........ardly see you, you nee........lue pages to fix ................ come back ................ got some blue pages.”**

You still didn’t get much out of that, but… you’re pretty sure that skeleton on the other end is _talking_ to you, is an actual _person_! You’re not sure how that’s possible – there are too many weird things about it. There’s the books with moving pictures, and the pages, and the fact that it was a skeleton…

Though, it could be a mask, you think to yourself. It’s not as if you got a really good look at it.

Then you remember – there’s another book! Quickly, you dart to the opposite side of the room, where the Red Book is waiting for you. You don’t waste any time this time, reaching up and grabbing both the book and the page. Last time, you didn’t get to see what happened, so this time you pay careful attention as you put the page on top of the book.

There’s that sound again, and it gives you a slight chill up your spine – but more interestingly, the book glows faintly, and the page dissolves into it, as if the book was absorbing it somehow.

You flip it open, and there’s a small rectangle on the page, filled with red static.

_“_ SANS? .......... YOU?” A large, black eyesocket takes up the majority of the little screen, before pulling back, revealing another skeleton with a tall grin and squinting eyes. “HEY, YOU’RE NOT............ WHAT ARE YOU? UGH, ....................TION IS THE WORST – NO FEAR, THO.............GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL DO MY BEST TO FIX IT!! …ER, BUT IF YOU.......... RED PAGES, THAT WOULD ................. HELPFUL!”

You think he’s about to say something else, but the static fades back in, leaving you with another blank book. Remembering how you’d extended your time with the other book, you close it, and open it again.

“HELLO?....... YOU AG.................ERY HARD OVER HERE, SO YOU ................FIND THE RED PAGES, TOO!”

And then, static.

So, you think to yourself, these two are Sans and Papyrus. Or, you think they are. It was kind of hard to tell with all the static. On one hand, they’re not quite what you expected from their writing. On the other hand, they’re _exactly_ what you expected from their writing.

You do know one thing for sure – they want you to find Red and Blue pages. And knowing that they are relying on you to help them fills you with DETERMINATION.

Where should you start?

  * _Look at the paintings on the wall_ now _?_
  * _Examine the Gear_
  * _Examine the sunken Dogboat/miniature sunken Dogboat_
  * _Examine the Tree_
  * _Examine the Drill_




	6. Look at the paintings on the wall *now*?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those paintings have a very unique style to them....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Rainbow_Limabeans and Chaeotica for their votes to look at the paintings!

You decide to check out the portraits on the walls of the Librarby. There’s nothing else here that you haven’t examined, except for the fireplace, and it’s pretty obvious what that’s for – fire.

There are three portraits on the walls here – you start opposite the fireplace, at a hefty looking frame that depicts a map. After looking over it for a moment, it becomes clear to you where it is – the very island you’re standing on. You recognize the outcroppings where the drill and the gears are located, see the dock where the boat is sunken, the Librarby, and the strange tree near the snow-covered cabin in the woods. Each of these places is outlined, as if someone wanted viewers to know that they were important locations.

As you stare at it, something catches your eye – behind the Librarby, there are two concentric circles, and at the center of them, it looks like there might be a… button?

You scramble around, assembling a pile of the damaged books, hoping Sans and Papyrus will forgive you for stomping on them like this (but, honestly, they were ruined anyways), and manage to get a stack large enough for you to reach the button. And as any person with a healthy dose of curiosity would, you eagerly press the button.

You are assaulted with the sound of scraping metal and grinding gears, and you instinctively pull your hand back, covering your ears. But, in that split second, you notice that the map has actually lit up! From the center of the circle, a long, thin white line illuminated, pointing out away from the island, but in the second you had the button pressed, it moved, rotating clockwise until it sat nearly over the gear. Bracing yourself, you press it again, and now that you’re prepared, the loud noise isn’t nearly so bad. You watch for a minute as this line rotates around the map in intervals… and you take note of the fact that, as it passes over certain locations, the line’s color changes from white to red.

Curious, you stop the line right on top of the gear.

An even louder grinding, groaning sound rumbles through the library, and the floor itself rattles… but after a moment, it’s gone. Something moved, but you’re not sure what.

You press the button a few more times, moving it away from items of interest and towards, and notice that the second sound only ever happens when the line is red. You’re not quite sure what that means, but maybe it’ll come up later. After a few minutes of playing with it, though, it becomes clear that you’re not getting anywhere with this alone. Maybe you can come back to this later, though?

You turn to another one of the paintings, one of the two flanking the entryway. You examine it for a moment, puzzled. It’s… a beautiful, perfectly painted picture… of the doorway out of the building. You look back, and forth, and back again, between it, the door, and it again. Whoever painted this was clearly a person of some skill – you would think this was a photograph, if it wasn’t for the slight spiral smudging you can see, and you wonder what kind of art style works outward like that.

Eventually, you shrug, moving to the last painting.

This one is interesting – it looks to be by the same artist, if you had to guess, but it depicts an arch leading into a passageway of some sort. When you look at it, you get the sneaking suspicion that you’ve seen this before, somewhere, and looking around the room, you realize where. The painting is actually of the bookshelf, where you took the damaged books and found the clean ones Sans and Papyrus had written in, but the artist has taken some liberties, removing the bookshelf for this secret… hidden… passage…

No, you think to yourself. That’s just silly.

…but, on the other hand, you are on an island by yourself, with books that have moving images and people inside them. Nothing so far has made sense here, so maybe it’s best to go with your gut.

You inspect the library shelf again, tugging out all the books you hadn’t touched so far, but even after you’ve pulled them all, there’s no sudden change or secret, book activated letter. In a moment of clever thought, you pull down as many books as you can, then knock on the back panel.

It rings hollow.

You’re fairly certain there’s a passageway back there. Now, you just have to find where it is. Slightly stuck, you go back to the painting, thinking to examine it again for a clue.

The painting reveals nothing on another inspection – just the same fanciful image of a secret passage that is now _taunting_ you with your inability to find it. As you stand there idly thinking over your options, that swirl pattern in the painting catches your eye, then your attention, and without really thinking it over, you reach forward and touch the image.

Behind you, there’s the sound of mechanics in motion, and you whirl around just in time to see the bookcase start to collapse, folding up and in on itself before dropping to the floor, forming a staircase to… a secret passage.

You grin, then realize it’s gotten a little darker in here. Most of the light had come from the ambient glow outside, but when you look, a large wooden panel has covered the door. This time, though, you know how it works, and to test your theory, you run over to the other side of the door frame, tapping the image of the open archway.

The panel slides up, and the bookcase lifts back into place.

You grin to yourself, darting back and forth. Open, close, open, closed! This place may have odd rules, but you’re starting to get the hang of it.

Still, now you’re done investigating the paintings, and you’ve opened up a new avenue of exploration!

…so, what’s next?

 

  * _Examine the Gear_
  * _Examine the sunken Dogboat/miniature sunken Dogboat_
  * _Examine the Tree_
  * _Examine the Drill_
  * _Examine the new passageway_




End file.
